Utah man close to reaching South Pole on his bicycle

Last winter Dan Burton and friends rode across frozen Utah Lake to get a slight taste of his expedition to the South Pole. Burton is close to finishing his trek. (Dan Burton)

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Dan Burton, the owner of Epic Biking in Saratoga Springs, is on his way to becoming the first person to ride a bicycle to the South Pole, his family says.

Burton started his trek across the South Pole in November. He talks to his wife, Media Burton, just about every day on a satellite phone so she can update his blog.

"It's getting close to the end, so he's getting excited for that," she said.

Burton has completed three-quarters of the journey from the edge of Antarctica to the South Pole, riding about 500 of the 700 miles. He said he has endured minus 40 degree temperatures and has pedaled into headwinds and whiteouts.

"I don't give in when I should. I think I've got the ability to keep going and make it there," Dan Burton said in November.

He has already broken the record for the most miles ridden on a bicycle toward the South Pole. He's fallen in a crevasse and had to field rig a wheel while awaiting a new one in his last cache of food and gear that he picks up in a couple of days.

Dan Burton has completed three-quarters of the journey from the edge of Antarctica to the South Pole. He's dealing with temperatures in the range of negative teens all the way down to 40 below zero just about every day. (Dan Burton)

He's surrounded by snow and ice all alone, but his family and friends are confident he will finish the ride.

"He seems to be doing very well and is determined to complete it," Media Burton said. "He's got the capability and the determination."

If everything goes according to plan, Dan Burton should complete the ride in the next couple of weeks. Whether he finishes the ride or not, he will have to leave Antarctica in the next few weeks because the last plane for the season leaves Jan. 23.